DOMINION OVER STUBBORN CHALLENGES VI

Apply the Weapon of Obedience

Text: 2 Cor.10:3-6

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled”.

Not very many people recognize that obedience is a weapon. It is a superb weapon; in the secular parlance, it can be described as a dangerous weapon against the enemy. Notice verse 6 of the above scripture “when your obedience is complete”. There is a realm of complete obedience where God wants His children to operate but there is the realm of partial obedience where most people prefer to operate from. The bad thing about the realm of partial obedience is that those who operate in it think that they are operating in obedience. Partial obedience is disobedience because if you are ninety percent in obedience and ten percent in disobedience, the ten percent will automatically cancel the ninety.

The Living God is not a fifty percent God but a hundred percent God. He is thrice holy. A lot of people have the impression that once they are fifty-one percent in obedience then they are okay. The equation for marriage is not fifty percent plus fifty percent equals one hundred percent rather it is one hundred percent plus one hundred percent equals one hundred percent. The Bible says “and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). If you want God to be involved, you must do it according to His terms and not according to yours. God does not bless anything that is disorderly. It is only when your obedience is complete according to the scripture above that the spirits that bring contrary imagination in the mind will submit to the will of God. You cannot enforce obedience if you are in disobedience to God. The weapons of our warfare are made mighty through divine connection. We cannot fight with carnal weapons if we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us.

Obedience is synonymous with loyalty. It means acknowledging God as the boss; the One who has the final say. That is why it is a serious error to place tradition above the word of God. What makes our weapon mighty is the quality of our connection to God. If you are divinely connected, there will be maximum flow and anywhere there is a flow, there will be deposits, He will make His heavenly resources available to you. Partial contact is one of the greatest problems of man today. In electrical engineering, partial contact can sometimes lead to electrocution or explosion and sometimes destruction of gadgets. Obedience means submitting to the perfect will of God and God is always happy when you obey Him because His instructions are for your good and meant to take you to your place of honour, prosperity and dignity. His plans for us as enunciated in His revealed will for us are plans of good to give us an expected end. “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt have good success”. Josh. 1:8. Don’t allow anyone teach you anything outside the will of God. Almost every Christian has issues with disobedience. As the year is winding up, many Christians are grumbling about their unfulfilled expectations. Is your obedience complete?

Every act of disobedience smacks of ingratitude. Why? Disobedience comes from the carnal will of man. Out of all of God’s creation, it is only man that disobeys Him. It is out of love that God gave man a free will. God said “let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. True love makes, true love ennobles, true love elevates, true love builds, true love transforms you so that you can have an inheritance. Without free will, man would have been a robot. But God wanted man to exercise his will in making right choices. Disobedience brings man from that point of elevation into slavery where the authority that God gave him is usurped. Disobedience removes the glory. Rom. 3:23 “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. Sin is simple instruction neglected. Sin makes man vulnerable to satanic incursions; sin de-robes, it leads to spiritual nakedness.

Your will is your deciding self. It was a loving Father that decided to make you like Him in giving you free will and anytime you disobey God, your God connection is reduced to zero. There is a dimension of divine intervention that will never happen until your obedience is complete. When your obedience is complete, God takes over your battles. A lot of people are fighting carnal battles with carnal weapons because of disobedience.

The issue tithe should not be a subject of debate. Mal. 3:8. God takes over your battles when your obedience is complete. A lot of people are struggling with paying their tithe of ten percent. How much can you pay to God for the oxygen you breath in? How much can you pay to God for stepping in to rebuke the devourer for your sake? The greatest partnership you can have is divine partnership. God wants to partner with you; He wants you to give Him a chance to bless you. He does not need your money; he only wants you to give Him a chance to bless you. Eventually, everybody pays tithe; the only thing is that most people choose to pay the tithe of disobedience.

A lot of problems linger because people decided to disobey the game plan that God gave them. Bring Him in, let Him take over, you can go to sleep when God is your partner. If you cannot surrender your money to God, how can you surrender your life to Him? God knows when you have actually elevated Him above every other thing in your life and that is when He will step in and do great things in your life. May you have trophies of obedience and not scars of disobedience in the mighty name of Jesus.

Do not listen to the voice of the snake who wants you to crawl. Do you know that anytime you obey God, you schedule a season of blessing? Learn to celebrate your relationship with God. God wants man to swim in the overflow dimension of His blessings but the decision to say Yes or No to His programme is in the will of man.

PRAYER

• Lord, in any way that I have been an enemy of my own progress, in any way that I have limited You, Lord, I am sorry. In Your mercy, forgive me and help me to align my will with Your will. Help me to understand that Your will is the best for me. Help me Lord, and teach me to pray ‘let Your will be done in every facet of my life’ in the name of Jesus. Grant me the grace to walk with You so that Your purpose may be established in my life, in the name of Jesus.
• Lord, I stretch my hand to You, I acknowledge that I depend on You, Lord, I ask that You lead me from where I am to where I am supposed to be, please beautify my life, in Jesus name.
• Lord, I cease from struggle and I hand over every stubborn challenge in my life to You, with You, nothing shall be impossible. I ask you O Lord to take absolute control in the name of Jesus.
• Lord, help me to be complete in obedience. Help me never to struggle with what You have expressed in Your will, help me never to elevate man’s opinion above Your word, help me O Lord to receive Your word and to be complete in obedience in the mighty name of Jesus.
• Lord, I know that Your plans for me are plans of good and not of evil to give me an expected end, Lord, I ask, let Your purpose be fulfilled in my life in the name of Jesus. I put the blood of Jesus Christ upon my will, help me to think right, help me to choose right and decide right.